My Ebay Sports Card Auctions

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

\The 1992 Topps set was a little bit better than most of the Topps issues dating back to 1985, however it was still fairly typically boring of Topps efforts during the period. Things would start to improve the following year in terms of lowering production levels a bit and increasing quality. Tim Naehing only hit .109 the season before this...unable to come up with any actual on-field highlights, the back of his card reads "Tim was signed for the Red Sox by scout Larry Thomas".

Just look at the fantastic left/right centering on that card! Did they cut this from the sheet with a dull pair of scissors? Even Todd Benzinger deserved better than this overproduced set and ridiculous crop.

Did Topps give its 1987 cards a "wood-paneling effect" to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the 1962 set? Cheap, overproduced crap that initially looked like it would have one of the best rookie classes ever only to have steroids accusations and underachievement and injuries and any number of other things turn this into a junk set along with of course the overproduction on every level from factory sets to wax packs. Here is Steve Crawford, a common if there ever was one.

1988 Score base cards are garbage to begin with, and this lousy condition Gary Ward card is an example of true card collecting junk at its absolute most un-collectible. Not recommended for the suicide-prone.

This wouldn't be a bad looking card if not for the inclusion of Alvaro Epsinoza, whose glasses practically dominate the shot and whose 1990 average of .224 had been a 58-point drop from .282 in 1989. Upper Deck had increased production in 1990 as compared to 1989 and seemed increase it yet again in 1991 as compared to 1990. There was a lot of early interest in the Michael Jordan baseball card but even that card failed to hold its value very well.

Lenn Sakata in a Yankees uniform? Believe me, I was as taken aback as you probably are when I learned of this startling development. Even less startling: Sakata had only 9 RBI over the previous 2 seasons COMBINED, a number topped by several players in a SINGLE GAME over the history of baseball including Jim Bottomley, Mark Whiten, and Tony Lazzeri who are the single game record holders in the 2 major leagues with 12 RBI in a single game for Whiten & Bottomley and 11 RBI in a single game for Lazzeri.

For it's 40th anniversary in 1991, Topps rewarded fans and collectors with a boring, badly overproduced set almost completely lacking in redeeming qualities. This Luis Rivera card is a truly bad card in a truly bad set.

Almost everything is wrong with this card: The player (a .228 lifetime hitter), the year and company (1991 Score, overproduced junk), and the condition, which is less than stellar but could be worse. In spite of all that, this is still probably one of the best of the boring, overproduced sets from the 1988-92 glut period if only for the semi-ambitious design.

We all know how terrible this red-bordered atrocity of an overproduced baseball card set this was, and nothing sums it up quite like the list of players on the "Diamond Kings" checklist. I don't know who is most exciting here. Is it Steve Sax, Dan Gladden, Bryn Smith, Ed Whitson, Jim Deshaies or any of the other decent but not great players who dominate this checklist. Oh but look at the beautiful condition of this card. PSA 9 all the way.

Just like series 1, except with a green border instad of blue. Just like 1988 Donruss, except with a green border instead of blue. Here we have the legendary Mel Hall in a Yankee uniform. Like most every other card in the set, this card is completely and utterly worthless even for the most rabid Yankees collectors and Mel Hall collectors, of which there are probably about 2 on earth.